The Tangled Web
by SamanthaRose
Summary: A visit into life during a Modern day Azeroth. Follows the story of Stormy Zah'kra, a troll police woman hunting down a serial killer called the Mantis by day and playing the part of the Mantis by night.
1. Chapter 1

Throughout all the years when the world had changed, one place had persisted, stayed the same. That place was where they met that night... the dim light in the Salty Sailor played across her skin, and he wondered how she could move that way... the way she moved when she danced for him.

She danced for him, for him alone. They shared the jug of jungle vine wine that sat on the table between them, it's bitter aftertaste seeming so much sweeter as he watched this little show.

She wore a hip hugging kilt and a low cut shirt, the whole outfit leaving very little to the feverish imagination. She danced for him...

Gods, she was beautiful for a troll.

Leaning back in his chair and taking another drink of the jungle vine wine, he let his gaze sweep over her in utter appreciation. She smiled to him and did a little turn. He let his eyes linger on the soft curve of her back, wondering and imagining what this forbidden fruit might taste like.

She continued to dance for him, pausing only to take a short drink of the wine, her eyes smoldering with something that made his heart race.

Could she want him as much as he did her?

Her three fingered hands wove their way up, to the laces at the front of her shirt, and she undid them, sliding it off and dropping it to the floor.

She resumed her dancing, her dancing just for him, topless, her blue skin gilded in the candlelight. With one hand, she reached out... beckoned to him.

Heart pounding and mouth dry, he stood, moved across the floor towards her. He smiled at her and stood still for a moment, before her, then slowly raised his hands and eased them up her arms. She was much taller than him... but the look in her eyes, oh Gods, at this moment, he just didn't care.

She smiled down at him, something reflecting in her eyes for a moment, something... something wicked.

It must have been the Jungle Vine talking... must have been.

Creeping a little closer still, he offered her a smile in return, feeling her hands move against his chest. His smile broadened...

Then twisted as her hand plunged through his chest, blood flowing freely as she gripped his heart and tore it away from him, still beating... His eyes widened in horror, and she smiled slowly down at him.

His lips moved... no sound escaped, or needed to. She knew what he had said...

And just like all the others, he had fallen so easily to her...

She took this one's heart with her as a trophy, slipping her shirt back on and quickly leaving the tavern and his crumpled body behind.

"I continue to question your methods, love"  
His deep voice was a comfort in the darkness, and the Mantis slipped into the water, into his waiting arms. The tauren smiled as only Tauren could, and he laughed softly, a deep rumble in his chest.

"Well..." she breathed, and began to wash the blood away, the heart tucked securly away. "They DO call me the Mantis, you know."

"Yes, well... I seem to have survived this long." He smiled again and she continued to scrub the blood away. "Let's not linger too much longer. It's not safe here, and you have work tomorrow morning."

She nodded slightly, pushing her red hair from her face.

"Stormy..." He tipped her chin slightly to look at him, his big eyes boring into hers.

"Only a few more left." She gasped. "Then... then it will all be over."

"Then you'll turn yourself in?" He asked.

"You''ll be branded an accomplice, you know that. I can't do that to you... I can't see them take you away..." He shook his head as she protested.

"We get what we give, love of mine... we get what we give."

The blankets whispered against her skin when she moved out of the bed the next morning, her head pounding and her mouth dry.

She showered first, washing away any lingering sign of what had happened the night before... the water felt good on her skin... washing her sins slowly away.

Shaking the water from her hair as she stepped from the shower, Stormy stood for a moment and regarded herself in the mirror, the headache starting to dull away.

"Morning, beautiful." Corbin murmured to her as he entered the room, Stormy's face lighting up with a smile, her cheeks flushing. "Did you use all the hot water"  
"Yes"  
He sighed deeply and turned, exiting the bathroom again while she laughed.

"As usual... You know me, Corbin."

"Yes, yes. I know you very well. I know your silly habits, I know exactly what you like." He turned and offered her a smile. "Breakfast on the road again this morning?"

"Aye. It' s not like I will actually have time to eat after I get dressed."

"You should just get up earlier, then."

She ignored his comment, reaching over and grabbing her work uniform. She slipped on the tight black pants and the button down white shirt, adjusting her gun holster after sliding it on as well. Over that, her blue jacket, her belt with her smaller gun, and last but not least, her boots. She pulled her red hair into a braid and looked at herself again in the mirror. The badge on her chest glinted almost mockingly at her, and she sighed once again.

"Another day... another dead end." She promised herself, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Only a few more... then... "

Then what? Turn herself in? Become a criminal for all the criminals she had sent to their final resting place? For all the drug lords and crime kings that had long tortured and polluted their world falling to her charm, and then to their death?

She had done it to keep them all safe... she would keep doing it till they all understood.  
Every time she left a note at the scene of the crime, a note meticulously written in the language of her people... It was ignored.

And their crimes kept occuring...

So everynight, she crept out and became the person they whispered of in the shadows.

Stormy became the Mantis.

And everyday, she went out with the others in her unit and hunted herself down.

Everyday...

"Getting tired?" Corbin asked from the doorway. Stormy startled and turned to him, shaking her head to clear it and to disagree.

"Not yet." She said quickly. He gave her a look. "Well... fine. A little. Maybe just a little." She sighed deeply.

"Go to work... then come home. I'll have something for us to go for again tonight." He murmured. "And soon, it will be done. Soon, we can be free of this."

"Thanks. Corbin?"

He paused and looked at her again. She moved towards him, wrapped her arms around him as best she could, seeing as she was much tinier than him.

"I love you." She murmured. "Never forget that."

"I love you too, Stormy. Now... get to work, before you're late." 


	2. Chapter 2

Ryder Benson pushed his short shaggy hair from his eyes and watched the door for his partner. She had been late several days in a row this week, had come to work complaining that she was tired and hadn't meant to sleep in so late. He had worked with her for nearly two years, and her behavior as of late was totally unlike her.

Worry crept into him... he didn't like to see his partner under the weather, especially when they were working together on a case this huge. He tapped his finger against the folder he held, a folder with bold red letters at it's heading.

Case Number 582... the Mantis case.

The door opened, and Ryder raised his eyes again. 'Stormy' Zah'kra wandered in looking worn and weary. She smiled at him as she walked over, running her hand through her crimson colored bangs.

"Morning Zah'kra. Looking good, as usual." Ryder said, plastering on a smile himself.

"Mmm... could be better, could be worse. Didn't sleep well last night." Stormy's typical reply. She hadn't been sleeping well at all lately.

"Your mystery man keeping you up or something?" His smile turned to a grin, and Stormy gave him a look. He wondered if she ever thought of hitting him for his comments, found himself being thankful that she didn't, considering she was a troll and probably hundreds of time stronger than him.

"It's none of your business." She retorted, sniffing. "What have we got for today?"

"More of the same. Another mess to clean up, this one down by the docks. She's hitting close to home, huh?" He handed her the file and watched her face closely as she read through the report. She showed no emotion on her face... but her eyes.

Her eyes always held that spark of terror, horror... something she kept hidden well. When she was finished, as usual, her lips pulled into a tight line, and she nodded slowly.

"Alright. Did she leave it behind this time?"

"Nope. For some reason, she took it with her. She's a strange one... maybe she keeps the hearts of the ones who don't put up a fight... as punishment for them not being strong enough?"

"Maybe." Sighing, Stormy straightened a little. "Alright, who's coming with us today?"

Ryder offered her a tight smile.

"Scott and Perrins."

Stormy's expression changed slightly to one of hesitation, and Ryder put a hand on her shoulder gently. The human was nearly dwarfed by the tall troll woman, so the gesture might have looked ackward.

"Hey, c'mon, he's still the same guy." He murmured this for only her to hear, and Stormy, for a moment, looked confused.

"Huh? Oh! Scott... yes, I know Ryder. Don't worry." She patted his hand and smiled a little again, stepping away from him. "I'll go wait at the car."

As she walked away, Ryder Benson found himself wondering what went on in her head. She was so hard to read... she was so hard to decipher. It was like... she was still on the opposite side in the old war, keeping secrets, playing spy. She spoke Common well, and he had heard her speaking Orcish to Perrins before... she didn't speak it well, according to Perrins. Perhaps it had never been a language she spent much time learning. He wondered briefly if she could speak Trollish... then reminded himself it was probably a foolish question.

"Wait up."

Detective's Carmin Scott and Perrins worked frequently on the Mantis case alongside Detective's Zah'kra and Benson, and Ryder Benson's misguided thoughts that Stormy Zah'kra was uncomfortable about Scott's presence made her stomach turn.

Carmin Scott had returned to the Force after a leave of absense caused by a particularly dangerous raid the unit had done on a house in the Vale. Since they lived so close to the Vale, they often found themselves venturing into the wilderness.

During that particular raid, they had visited the home of one of the remaining Forsaken.

During that particular raid, Scott had contracted something that looked dangerously like the plague of the old war.

He had been quarantined for weeks upon end, at last released when the doctors were sure there was nothing left of the infection he had. As Stormy stood and looked at him now, she could see the lingering effects of his illness. His hair was darker, his eyes were paler, his skin was almost ashen.

There was a good chance that if Scott were ever to be killed on the job, or if he was ever to get sick and die...

He wouldn't stay dead now.

Stormy didn't like deaders... but she was willing to bet that Scott wouldn't' be like all the others. He had always been strong. In their ventures during their work, Scott was the levelheaded one that kept them all going.

The counterpart of the levelheadedness came in the form of the Unit's only orc... Perrins.  
Stormy wasn't nervous at all about Scott. It was Perrins she was nervous about. If there was ever a person to accidently find out about her... secret, it would be him. Perrins always managed to find things there weren't seen by anyone else, the tiny details that were always missed. He was guided more by his other senses... Sound, touch and smell, than he was with his eyes.

Perrins could smell blood more strongly than the rest of them.

He was also the brute force of the group.

Logic, force, humor... authority.

Scott, Perrins, Benson and Zah'kra. Most of the media didn't dare venture to a crime sight when the four of them were teamed together. Perrins would easily chase away any goblin with a camera, but mostly, they were afraid of Zah'kra's barked orders and calm, sure composure.

Stormy Zah'kra wasn't usually easily shaken.

"Alright, let's head out, guys." Stormy said as she approached the squad cars. Scott grumbled a good morning and got behind the wheel of his car, Stormy noticing that he seemed a little paler than usual today. He was shorter than Benson, she supposed short even for a human, making her and Perrins tower over him. Perrins met Stormy's eye, offered her a greeting in orcish, then got into the squad car himself. Stormy lifted her chin, swallowed and got into the passenger seat of her own squad car. Benson came out shortly after and the four of them departed to see what mess had been left by the ever elusive Mantis. 


	3. Chapter 3

The goblins that had moved into the scene of the crime quickly scattered when the car rolled to a stop in the lot outside the stairs leading down into the Bay. One look from Stormie quickly deterred any that decided to linger, and as a group, the four headed down the stairs to the scene of the crime.

Stormie took out her notebook and pen, the case file still clutched in her hand as well, her red eyes taking in the scene with deliberation. Yellow tape marked off the entrance of the building where it happened, there was blood splashed over the docks, but the body had been moved by the coroners already.

She moved towards the building, pausing when Perrins said her name. She glanced over at him, seeing him point towards the end of the dock and raising an eyebrow. She looked in the direction he pointed, her brows furrowing as she saw a Tauren standing there, fishing in the waters of the Bay below. Her feet made no noise on the docks as she moved towards him, hands on her hips, lips pulled into a tight line...

The others didn't recognize the Tauren standing there... but she sure as hell did.

"Excuse me sir." She said in a firm voice, pushing a rogue lock of red hair from her face, and the Tauren looked towards her, flashing a smile she barely caught before he asked innocently...

"Can I help you officer?"

Stormie raised an eyebrow again, shaking her head slightly. "Sir, are you aware that this is a crime scene?"

"Oh... I suppose it is."

"What exactly do you think you're doing here, then?"

The Tauren looked at the fishing pole he held, then flashed her a wicked grin as he turned back to face her.

"Fishing."

Stormie exhaled slowly through her nose, and the Tauren's grin faded. He coughed weakly and cleared his throat.

"Right then... I'll just be going, officer." He leaned down to pick up his things, and Stormie saw as his large fingers tugged a blood stained bit of fur from between two of the boards on the dock, her heart beginning to thunder. The Tauren hefted his things, flashing her another smile before heading off on his way. He passed by Carmin and Perrins, and neither of them chose to stop the hulking figure, letting him head back up the stairs away from the Bay. Stormie calmed herself by taking in a deep breath, her stomach beginning to churn.

Perhaps she should have eaten breakfast this morning...

"Alright... let's process the scene and see if the CSI missed anything." She said, her voice shaking slightly. Ryder gave her a look but said nothing, simply watching her move towards the building and duck beneath the yellow tape. The others followed, moving into the building as well to do their job...

The air was thick with the scent of blood congealed by the humidity and heat of the jungle, something that made Ryder choke even after five years of service... He pressed his hand to his mouth and nose briefly before clearing his throat and looking around.

"According to the reports, there was a partially finished bottle of Junglevine on the table... here." Carmin said, pointing with his pen to the table nearest the bar, and Ryder nodded in reply. He glanced again at Stormie, who was lingering near the window.

It could have been the lighting inside, but he could swear her skin had taken on a greener tinge than normal...

She was also sweating profusely... he began to wonder again if perhaps she was sick.

"Perrins, you sense anything?" Ryder asked, turning to look at the orc. He noticed that Perrins was also looking at Stormie, the orc's brows knit together. He seemed to come from a daze as Ryder spoke, turning his head to face the human with a grunt and a shake of his head.

"I haven't been trying."

"Do you think you could?" Ryder walked over and patted him on the shoulder. The orc bristled, turning his gaze to Ryder again, frowning even more, and the human let out a nervous laugh. "Or, y'know... it's alright, you don't have to."

"It might help." Carmin said softly, but Perrins shook his head.

"It might not."

"You doubt yourself too much." Stormie's voice echoed from near the window, sounding even more weak and shaky than when she had been outside. The three men glanced at one another, and Ryder saw Perrins step forward, moving to stand beside the troll.

"Zah'kra..." The orc's pleasant voice rumbled, and Stormie tensed as he put his hand gently on her back. "Something is wrong..."

"I just... think... I need some air." She said softly, brushing past him to move outside.

Panic welled up in her as she exited the building, ducking again under the yellow tape and moving into the bushes near the docks, her hand pressed to her mouth.

What in the world was wrong with her?!

Perrins' earthy scent clung to her nostrils, his touch still burned on her skin even through the uniform she wore...

Every one of her senses felt like they were on fire, and her stomach turned over...

And all of a sudden, Stormie Zah'kra found herself doubled over the bushes, vomiting, her eyes wide with shock.

...

...

"You wanna talk about it?" Ryder hadn't spoken at all during the ride home, so his voice speaking suddenly as he pulled into the driveway in front of Stormy's house startled her from a daze, making her look over at him with tired eyes.

"No..." She said simply after a long pause, moving to get out of the car. Ryder put his hand on her arm gently, his face concerned as she looked back at him.

"I'm your partner, you know you can..." His words trailed off from the look on her face, and the smile he had bravely put on for her faded slightly as well. "Go get some rest, Stormy. Take the rest of the week off..."

She stared at him again, without speaking, then nodded, opening the door to exit the car. Ryder watched her in silence, sighing gently to himself.

Something was going on... something big, something that Stormy couldn't handle alone. He searched the drawn curtains for some sign that someone was there, someone could take care of her...

He hoped whoever the mystery man was she stayed with was man enough to help his partner now, in a time of great need.

...

Corbin looked up in surprise when the lock clicked and the door opened, setting the book he was holding down on the table and standing to greet his lover as she stumbled through the door. Her shirt was stained with sweat... it dripped from her, and her skin was pale. She trembled weakly, murmuring his name as he moved to help her inside, closing the door behind her. Outside, he saw a squad car waiting, knowing Stormy's partner was the one driving it.

He was careful not to be seen... it wouldn't do to let himself be seen here after being seen by them all on the docks this morning.

"What's wrong, love? What's happened?" He rumbled to her softly, pushing her matted hair from her face to look at her. She gazed up at him for a long moment, then pushed away from him, hurrying down the hallway into the bathroom. As she slammed the door behind her, Corbin stood still for a moment, frowning.

"... well..." He murmured. "That was strange..."

Brows furrowed in worry, he moved down the hall after a moment, pausing outside the closed bathroom door. He waited until he heard the toilet flush, then eased the door open, murmuring Stormy's name again.

She was leaning against the side of the bathtub next to the toilet, her head in her hands, her shoulders trembling...

Corbin didn't speak as he moved to crouch beside her, putting his hand gently on her shoulder. She didn't raise her head right away, taking in a slow breath before turning her eyes to his.

Her lips parted, and she made a soft noise, closing her eyes.

"I fucked up." She whispered. "I fucked up bad, baby..."

He stared at her for a long time, then let out a sigh, letting his hand fall away.

"I see..." He murmured, and Stormy opened her eyes to look at him sadly. "Am... Am I not enough for you, Stormy?"

"It's not that..." She replied. "I... I forgot... One night during a job, I forgot..."

"Your pills." Corbin finished for her, rubbing his eyes. He was quiet for a long time, seeming to be lost in thought, or to be suddenly taken in by the tiles on the floor. Stormy watched him, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a trembling hand, and at last, the Tauren let out a rumbling sigh, looking at her once more. "What do we do?"

"Wait it out..."

"Stormy... this child belongs go-"

"Corbin." Stormy's tone held a note of warning, and Corbin shut his mouth, swallowing several times before getting up to leave the room.

"I suppose... this is a troll thing." The Tauren said, glancing back over his shoulder. Stormy didn't say a word in response. "I take that as a yes..."


End file.
